You have a new teaching job in the fall?

Now what?

First, congratulations. And take a deep breath. The process that you just went through to get this job was likely long and a tad stressful. You took the classes, completed your student teaching, fixed your resume, wrote cover letter after cover letter, did the demo lessons, and visited the schools. And now. You are a teacher. Take a minute (or two!) and just sit in that.

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You will likely be asked, depending on where you are in your life, some variation of the “do you have a job?” question. And now, you can proudly say, yes. I have a teaching position. And then, people will ask you what you are going to teach. Here it seems there is an obvious answer….Math. 3rd grade. History. Chemistry. All true. But, what if you answered…students. I am teaching students. Now, I can admit, there are some ways and some people who you will say this to who will indicate that this answer is, as my grandmother used to say, fresh. But what would it be like to start your teaching career with the students at the center, always at the center?

And now that the students are where they belong, at the center of your thoughts and your practice, what do you need to do this well? You need a relaxing and restful summer. I know that anticipation of wanting to do a good job can create a scenario that is the opposite of relaxing. And I am not suggesting that you not think about the work or prepare at all. What works for me in the summer is compartmentalizing. I think about what I want to learn or accomplish, and set a doable schedule to get it done. And this all depends on your working style. Do you want to set aside an hour on weekdays to get started on understanding the curriculum you will be teaching? Great plan. Are you better off working for a whole day once a week? Plan that…and stick to it. In this way, you take bite size chunks, get a jump on what you need to do, but still have plenty of time to relax.

And, the other benefit is that you will know if you need to reach out for more materials or information. Response times from those of us who work in the summer can vary, so be prepared. There are some weeks that we are in the office, and flexible to address your questions. And some weeks that our out of office message is on, but we scan for important emails and can respond. I can say that one of the things I scan for in this scenario are emails from new teachers. Especially if the question is one I can easily answer or pass along to someone else who can. But, there are weeks where you really will get an out of office, and the reply will take days.

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If I could tell my younger self what to spend time thinking about in the time before my first year of teaching took place, it would be the opening classroom days. How will you greet your students at the door? What will the first few days look like? How will you set the tone for your classroom, and what do you want it to look and sound like? How will you create relationships with students? Be flexible in planning this…often opening week of school schedules can impact class schedules. These are usually completed and sent out in the weeks before school starts.

How do you know what to do on those opening days? There is no one right answer…other than, make sure the students are at the center. Who are they? What do they bring into the classroom? How are you prepared to meet them where they are with what they carry? How can you make it clear to them that this classroom is somewhere they belong? What routines and structures are in place to make this happen? And how can you find resources?

You are in the right place. Scroll through my Substack from the past year for short entries on all kinds of first year teacher questions. And then, check out others writing here. There are many expert educators sharing what they have learned….and freely offering up resources, ideas, and conversations. Subscribe and check out some of the people writing about teaching and learning.

And last…this is a one step at a time job you have chosen. There is no finish line, no time where you will say “It is done, I am the best teacher I can be”. And that, to me, is where the joy is. Happy summer…